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Reading Edgar Allan Poe’s goosebump-inducing poems and stories in print is creepy enough. But this Friday, you can see them performed live in The Bronx cottage where literature's favorite goth lived during the 1840s.
British actor Stephen Smith will perform a one-man rendition of three of Edgar Allan Poe's best blood-curdling pieces—"The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Raven"—on Friday, October 18 at New York City's Poe Cottage. It's free to attend, but space is limited in the tiny Fordham-area home, so it's first-come, first-served. The event is hosted in partnership with the Bronx Historical Society.
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Smith, of Threedumb Theatre, has long been a Poe fan, recalling reading Poe's work as a child. But it wasn't until the pandemic that he felt compelled to perform "The Tell-Tale Heart," a one-man show set in one room that worked well on Zoom. He admired the richness of Poe's language, both for the audience and the actor.
"I feel like he's stood the test of time because the characters that he's created and the psychological kind of horror, the focus on the human mind being the horrible thing, rather than some ghost or monster or supernatural," Smith tells Time Out New York. "Sometimes in his more powerful and horrifying stories, it's actually the the human mind that is the the scary part. And I think that is why I think the he changed the course of where horror could be going."
Smith found success with his Poe performances, even being nominated for an award at the Poe Festival. He's performed Poe's works on stages across America and the UK, but this will be his first time visiting the Poe Cottage in New York City.
"It really kind of feels like Poe is watching over you and approving, I'd like to think," Smith says. Considering that Smith has memorized thousands of Poe's words, the poet's posthumous approval seems certain.
"I don't adapt the stories in any way. I just have memorized 13,000 words of original Poe, and I perform that live on stage. I like to think that my show is the most faithful theatrical adaptation that you could ever get. It's not adapted; it's exactly what Poe intended but live on stage."
It's exactly what Poe intended but live on stage.
Smith lauds Poe as a pioneer in the genre of short storytelling, which was a completely new concept for writers who had previously only written plays, poems or novels.
"His short stories really pack a punch because you can read them all in one sitting," Smith says. Plus, he adds, given Poe's effective use of an unreliable narrator, you never know exactly what's true.
Though Poe lived a nomadic lifestyle in the 1800s, he settled in the Bronx with his ailing wife, Virginia, in 1846. With Virginia suffering from tuberculosis, it was thought that the clean air of Fordham could help her; sadly she died in the cottage in 1847.
During the couple's time at the home, they kept caged songbirds on the porch, where Poe would pace back and forth looking at the stars. During his time in the Bronx, Poe wrote some of his most famous works, including "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Bells," "Annabel Lee" and "Eureka." Poe died under suspicious—and still mysterious to this day—circumstances in 1849 in Baltimore.
A few pieces in The Bronx's Poe Cottage are believed to be original, including a rocking chair, a mirror and the bed where Virginia died. Now, the historic home also features exhibits and artifacts exploring Poe's life.